Ross County 2 Hibs 2
Substitute Yan Dhanda snatched an equaliser for Ross County in the eighth minute of time added on as we dropped two points in the Highlands.
We dominated the game for long spells and deservedly led after goals from Myziane Maolida and Adam Le Fondre turned the game in our favour after Josh Sims' first-half sucker punch.
Dhanda’s late strike, combined with results elsewhere, mean Dundee leapfrog us into the top six.
Nick Montgomery made three changes to his side following the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup defeat against Rangers.
Fit-again Lewis Miller replaced Chris Cadden at right-back, Dylan Levitt stepped in for the suspended Nathan Moriah-Welsh while Elie Youan started in place of Martin Boyle.
Dylan Vente missed out again through injury while youngsters Jacob MacIntyre and Rory Whittaker took their place amongst the substitutes.
With Vente again unavailable, Emiliano Marcondes was once more deployed as a false nine where he was supported on the flanks by Youan and Myziane.
The boys were backed by around 1,000 supporters from the capital and under the lights in Dingwall they were in fine voice.
Ross County started brightly and were pressing us high up the pitch and trying to close down any available spaces in the middle of the park.
It took until the 25th minute before the game saw a shot registered on goal as Miller’s hanging cross was headed by Jordan Obita straight into the grateful arms of George Wickens in the Ross County goal.
The Hibees suffered a blow in the 34th minute when Miller left the pitch with a knock and had to be replaced by Cadden.
We were strengthening our grip on the game at this point and went close with a Will Fish shot on the angle that flashed wide of the far post following a corner kick.
Two minutes later, it took a double save from Wickens to keep us out as Myziane latched onto a Levitt through ball and his shot was pushed away at full stretch by the goalkeeper; Youan kept it alive and set up Cadden with a cut back only for his first-time shot to be kept out by Wickens once more.
Three minutes before half time and calamity struck as County opened the scoring against the run of play when Rocky, Obita and David Marshall combined to make a mess of dealing with Simon Murray’s cross and Sims was left all alone at the back post to stab the ball home.
Montgomery made a change during the interval with Le Fondre replacing Levitt. The experienced striker slotted into his usual place in attack, with Emiliano dropping back into midfield.
The substitute had an early opportunity to make an impression on the game when a ball over the top found his run, he tried to lob Wickens but didn’t get enough elevation on his strike and the goalkeeper saved comfortably.
We deservedly levelled the game on 53 minutes when Youan’s threaded pass broke the County defensive lines allowing Myziane to run in behind and cooly slot the ball under Wickens for his fifth Hibs goal.
The home side had a scare when Jack Baldwin handled Myziane’s cross from the left. Play was held up for a VAR check that showed the ball had struck his arm, however it was tucked into his side and no penalty was the decision.
It had been one-way traffic in the second half and to stem the flow of traffic towards their goal, County made a double change with Jordan White and James Brown replacing Brophy and Sims on 72 minutes.
Four minutes later, our dominance told as Joe Newell floated a lovely delivery over the heads of the static home defence for Le Fondre to volley home from close range past Wickens.
County made their second double change with eight minutes remaining as they pushed for a late leveller.
Seven minutes added time were added on despite limited stoppages in the second half. Five minutes into time added on, it appeared we would see the game out after Marshall kept out Murray’s vicious volley with a stunning save.
Yet, in the eighth minute of additional time, County took advantage of a throw in wrongly given in their favour and from Murray’s cross Dhanda slotted it away at the back post to snatch an equaliser.